Rockoon

A rockoon (from rocket and balloon) is a solid fuel sounding rocket that, rather than being immediately lit while on the ground, is first carried into the upper atmosphere by a gas-filled balloon, then separated from the balloon and ignited. This allows the rocket to achieve a higher altitude, as the rocket does not have to move under power through the lower and thicker layers of the atmosphere.

The original concept was developed by Cmdr. Lee Lewis, Cmdr. G. Halvorson, S. F. Singer, and James A. Van Allen during the Aerobee rocket firing cruise of the U.S.S. Norton Sound on March 1, 1949.

A serious disadvantage is that balloons cannot be steered and consequently neither the direction the launched rocket moves in nor the region where it will fall is easily adjustable. Therefore, a large area for the fall of the rocket is required for safety reasons.

Early atmospheric research

TIME magazine reported in 1959: "Van Allen's 'Rockoons' could not be fired in Iowa for fear that the spent rockets would strike an Iowan or his house." So Van Allen convinced the U.S. Coast Guard to let him fire his rockoons from the icebreaker Eastwind that was bound for Greenland. "The first balloon rose properly to 70,000 ft., but the rocket hanging under it did not fire. The second Rockoon behaved in the same maddening way. On the theory that extreme cold at high altitude might have stopped the clockwork supposed to ignite the rockets, Van Allen heated cans of orange juice, snuggled them into the third Rockoon's gondola, and wrapped the whole business in insulation. The rocket fired."

Rockoon (T-Square album)

Rockoon is the fourth studio album by Japanese Jazz fusion band T-Square. It was released on April 1, 1980.

Track listing

All music composed by Masahiro Andoh, except where noted.

Personnel

References

Rockoon (Tangerine Dream album)

Rockoon is an album by electronic artist Tangerine Dream, which was released in 1992. The album was started in March 1991 and completed January 1992, making it the longest production ever in the band's history. The album was nominated in the USA for the "Best New Age Album 1992" Grammy and reached the Top Ten in Billboard New Age charts and the Top Twenty in Billboard Jazz charts.

The album was re-released in 1999 on Tangerine Dream's own TDI label with new cover artwork by Edgar Froese.

"Big City Dwarves" was used as a promo single. Penguin Reference was also used on the promo. There were about 200 to 300 copies of this single.

Track listing

Personnel

References